Italian mariner and navigator;
widely believed to be the first European to sail across the
Atlantic Ocean and successfully land on the American continent.
Born Cristoforo Colombo, between August and October 1451, in
Genoa, Italy. Columbus was the eldest son of Domenico Colombo, a
wool-worker and small-scale merchant, and his wife, Susanna
Fontanarossa; he had two younger brothers, Bartholomew and
Diego. He received little formal education and was a largely
self-taught man, later learning to read Latin and write
Castilian.
Columbus began working at sea early on, and made his first
considerable voyage, to the Aegean island of Chios, in 1475. A
year later, he survived a shipwreck off Cape St. Vincent and
swam ashore, after which he moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where his
brother Bartholomew was living. Both brothers worked as
chartmakers, but Columbus already nurtured dreams of making his
fortune at sea. In 1477, he sailed to England and Ireland, and
possibly Iceland, with the Portuguese marine, and he also bought
sugar in Madeira for a Genoese firm.
1479 Columbus married Felipa Perestrello Moniz. They moved to
the island, Porto Santo.
1480 Columbus' son Diego was born.
1480-1482 Columbus made voyages to the Canary Islands and the
Azores.
1483 Columbus proposed a voyage to King John II of Portugal. The
proposal was rejected by his council.
1484 Felipa died.
1485 Columbus went to Spain with his son.
1 May 1486 Columbus proposed his voyage to king Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella of Spain. At the time they could not afford the
voyage because of conflicts with Portugal.
1487 Isabella granted Columbus a small salary, even though his
plan was rejected.
1487 Columbus began living with Beatriz Enriquez de Harana.
1488 Colombus' son was born, Ferdinand.
1490 The Spanish court issued a final report about Columbus'
proposal. They denied the plan.
January 1492 Spain conquered Granada. The new colony brought in
a lot of money. Luis de Santangel, a royal treasurer convinced
Isabella that Columbus' proposal could also bring in that much
wealth.
17 April 1492 Isabella granted Columbus permission for the
voyage.
3 August 1492 Columbus set sail on his first voyage. They made
their way to the Canary Islands.
6 September 1492 The fleet left the Canary Islands.
25 September 1492 Crew members aboard one of Columbus' ships,
the Pinta, shouted that they could see land, but it turned out
to be a false sighting.
12 October 1492 Columbus landed on an island in the West Indies.
He named it San Salvador. He believed he had reached the East
Indies. He called the islanders Indians.
25 October 1492 Christopher Columbus and his ship Santa Maria
landed in Dominican Republic.
26 October 1492 Columbus' fleet anchored on Ragged Island Range,
Bahamas.
28 October 1492 The fleet entered the Bay of Bariay off of Cuba.
5 December 1492 Columbus discovered Haiti. His flagship Santa
Maria was wrecked off the coast and he established the
settlement of La Navidad where he left 40 crew members with
instructions to obtain gold and find its source.
6 December 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on the island of
Santo Domingo in search of gold.
24 December 1492 Columbus gave the wheel to a sailor, so he
could rest. The sailor gave the wheel to a cabin boy. The Santa
maria crashed in present-day Haiti
16 January 1493 Columbus started his return home on the Nina.
15 March 1493 The Nina arrived in Palos.
1493 Isabella and Ferdinand asked the pope for permission to
control the land that Columbus had found.
25 September 1493 Columbus left on his second voyage.
3 November 1493 Columbus discovered the Caribbean Isles
(Dominica) during his second expedition. He and his crew of
1,500 built the town of La Isabella on the northern coast of the
Dominican Republic. It was abandoned within 5 years due in part
to poor relations with the Taino Indians. This area was part of
the chiefdom of Higuey.
4 November 1493 Columbus discovered Guadeloupe.
10 November 1493 Columbus discovered Antigua
19 November 1493 Columbus discovered Puerto Rico.
1494 The Line of Demarcation was established between Spain and
Portugal.
Spring 1494 Columbus explored the southern coast of Cuba.
30 April 1494 Columbus arrived in Guantanamo Bay
1494 Columbus set up harsh conditions for the Taino Indians.
10 March 1496 Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western
Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain.
June 1496 Columbus returned to Spain.
30 May 1498 Columbus left on his third voyage.
31 July 1498 Columbus arrived at the coast of Venezuela
1500 Francisco de Bobadilla was sent by Ferdinand and Isabella
to investigate complaints made about Columbus in Hispaniola.
August 1500 Bobadilla arrived and found many Spanish hanging
from the gallows. Columbus and his brother were arrested and
sent back to Spain.
1500 Columbus was released and forgiven by the monarchy. But he
was no longer allowed to govern Hispaniola.
9 May 1502 Columbus left on his fourth voyage.
July 1502 Columbus reached the coast of Honduras. He traveled
down the coast of Central America looking for a passage to Asia.
16 April 1503 Columbus gave up his search for the passage.
10 May 1503 Columbus stumbled across the Cayman Islands and
dubbed them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles.
June 1503 Columbus was marooned in Jamaica
29 February 1504 Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth
voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to
frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.
June 1504 Columbus was rescued.
17 November 1504 Columbus arrived in Spain.
